Dispruption: The gig economy

Is the on-demand economy replacing traditional jobs? Uber drivers are “independent contractors” who must pay their own payroll taxes, buy their own health insurance and save for their own pensions. Some drivers think this is wrong (and have taken their battle to the courts). In December 2015 two economists, Seth Harris and Alan Krueger (who has consulted for Uber in the past), penned a plan for a third category of worker, somewhere between a contractor and an employee, designed for the on-demand economy. The “independent worker” would get some benefits, like contributions towards health-care costs and payroll taxes, but would not be entitled to the minimum wage or unemployment insurance. Messrs Harris and Krueger say that equalising benefits makes it easier to compare earnings between jobs and apps, and that firms can use their bargaining clout to obtain health insurance more cheaply than individuals can.

The accelerating dynamics of change and complexity leave many business leaders overwhelmed and under-prepared. With irrelevant strategic planning frameworks and outdated tools, processes and platforms, leaders need to foster a new approach to innovation leadership and specifically two critical skills: visionary disruption and effective adaptation.

Disruptive Leaders take the path less traveled to offer unique vision, build a culture of frame-bending thinking, shape systems that un-limit and unleash innovative ideas and facilitate exceptional collaboration for inimitable synergy and responsiveness.